The present invention relates to a recording apparatus and, more particularly, to an ink-jet recording apparatus which ejects, through heat, ink particles from an ink-coated film to a recording medium, thereby performing recording.
Methods for printing data on a recording medium (e.g., paper) are generally classified into impact and non-impact methods. A non-impact recording apparatus produces less noise than an impact recording apparatus, and can be more compact.
Non-impact type recording apparatuses are classified into several types, one of which is an ink-jet recording apparatus. In an ink-jet recording apparatus, ink particles are ejected from a nozzle onto a recording medium, thereby forming dots thereon. For this reason, this apparatus allows color recording with ease. However, the nozzle clogs easily, and the apparatus has but poor reliability.
In recent years, an ink-jet recording apparatus which is substantially free of nozzle clogging has been proposed. This apparatus uses a film, running in a predetermined direction, adjacent to a recording surface of a recording medium. A large number of small holes (e.g., having a diameter of tens of microns) are formed in the film at a pitch of tens of microns. An ink supply mechanism for filling ink in these holes of the film is arranged in contact with a surface (rear surface) of the film, away from the recording surface. A thermal head, which contacts the rear surface of the film, is arranged downstream of the ink supply mechanism with reference to the film running direction. A large number of heating elements are arranged on the surface of the thermal head at a predetermined pitch in the widthwise direction of the film. The ink supply mechanism and the thermal head are moved more slowly than the film in the same direction as the film.
With this apparatus, ink is filled in the small holes of the film by the ink supply mechanism, forms droplets when heated by the thermal head. The ink particles are ejected onto the recording surface of the recording medium. When desired heating elements are energized, the ink filled in those small holes passing on the energized heating elements melts into ink particles, which will be ejected onto the recording surface. Hence, the ink in the small holes of the film corresponding to a dot image can be used for recording.
However, the ink-jet recording apparatus as described above has the following problems. Since the thermal head contacts a surface of the film at a given pressure, the thermal head is quickly worn does not last long. In addition, the temperature of the film is raised by the friction between the thermal head and the film, and too much ink is ejected to the recording medium, thus degrading recording quality.